Pulled this add off of a Reformed theology website I read. Now see... it's this kind of crap that I find completely embarassing as a Reformed thinker. More so, however, I find it embarassing as a Christian.
Are liberals my enemies? Are humanists my competition? Are atheists the bad guys?
To Bahnsen's credit, he was dead by the time this ad was made. If these folks really think this is the way to view life and our calling as Christians, then their theology is not nearly as orthodox as they imagine it to be.
Think about it. Isaiah 53 says Jesus was "crushed for our iniquities". If Jesus made this ad it would say "be crushed for the competition". You know, the whole take up your cross thing? Oh yeah, we forgot about that part of our theology, didn't we?
We're suppose to love our enemies, dumbass.
2 comments:
Greg,
I am catching this late but wanted to throw in a comment since this subject is near and dear to my heart, mind and wallet.
I am a student at Bahnsen Theological Seminary working toward an M.A. in Apologetics. First thing that I would like to say is that these ads are not sponsored by BTS or it’s parent organization the Southern California Center for Christian Studies. And you are correct in saying that they have come out after Bahnsen’s death. I would add that that it has been a decade since his untimely passing.
I understand what they are trying to say by “crush the competition” and things like that. The presuppositional approach to apologetics is focused on showcasing the internal conflicts and logical fallacies in non-Christian worldviews which causes them to undermine themselves and leaves only the Christian worldview standing as truth. This is in contrast to other methods of apologetics such as the evidential approach which is focused on compiling evidence for and against the existence of God and arriving at a level of probability that God does exist. The presuppositional approach does not treat the faith as a hypothesis.
With that being said, the advertising here is in conflict with what Bahnsen himself taught. He consistently preached “humble boldness”. Bold in that our faith is not a hypothesis. “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).
But, the Christian apologist must be humble before the world being fully aware that this wisdom is not inherently his own but rests entirely on the fear of the Lord. His position of knowledge is not natural to him and only exists because of the grace of God. The person who possesses the knowledge of the truth does so only because faith has been given to him as a gift. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) Therefore, the Christian scholar has nothing to boast of in himself, acknowledging that his understanding of the truth depends on the gracious work of God in him. Without this humble reverence, the Christian scholar is as foolish as all others.
Thanks for allowing insight from an insider.
DK
DK,
I too am a presuppositionalist, in the order of a John Frame who as you probably know is sort of a modified Van Tillian. Frame allows for evidences in an overall presuppositional framework. (haha- FRAMEwork... sorry.) I loved Frame's Doctrine of the Knoweldge of God . Read it three times. (Ironically!)
BTW, you'd really enjoy corrosponding with the guy who posts on my blog named Dru. He teaches epistemology at Covenant Seminary and was is heavily influenced by Philosopher Esther Meek who wrote her disertation on Michael Polanyi and who also studied under Frame who studied under Van Til at WTS.
I really miss "shop talk" like this since I've been out of seminary.
Peace & Joy
FP
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